Literacy Circles

  • Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the reading. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read. You can list them below during or after your reading. You may also use some of the general questions below to develop topics to your group.

  • Connector:Your job is to find connections between the reading and you, and between the reading and the wider world. Consider the list below when you make your connections.
    • Your own past experiences
    • Happenings at school or in the community
    • Stories in the news
    • Similar events at other times and places
    • Other people or problems that you are reminded of
    • Between this book and other writings on the same topic or by the same author

  • Literary Luminary: Your job is to locate a few special sections or quotations in the text for your group to talk over. The idea is to help people go back to some especially interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important sections of the reading and think about them more carefully. As you decide which passages or paragraphs are worth going back to, make a note why you picked each one and consider some plans for how they should be shared. You can read passages aloud yourself, ask someone else to read them, or have people read them silently and then discuss. Remember, the purpose is to suggest material for discussion.

  • Researcher: Your job is to dig up some background information on any relevant topic related to your book. This might include
    • The geography, weather, culture, or history of the book’s setting
    • Pertinent information about the author and other related works
    • Information about the time period portrayed in the book
    • Information on any topics or events represented in the book
    • Information on any topics or events that may have influenced the author
    • Pictures, objects, or materials that illustrate elements of the book
    • The history and derivation of words or names used in the book
    • Information about any character that is based on a historical person

  • Word Wizard (Everyone): Your job is to be on the lookout for a few words that have special meaning in today’s reading selection pay very close attention to scientific terms and/or jargon.



This was adapted from "iPad Literature Circles - Literature Circles." iPad Literature Circles - Literature Circles. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012.